Former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Leah McSweeney has filed a civil lawsuit against the show’s host and executive producer Andy Cohen. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, also names Bravo Media, NBCUniversal Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, production company Shed Media US and producers John Paparazzo, Lisa Shannon and Darren Ward.
In the 109-page complaint obtained by People, McSweeney claims the defendants pressured employees to consume alcohol and failed to take into consideration her disabilities, including “alcohol use disorder” and “mental health disorders.” She says she told the defendants that she had broken nine years of sobriety, but was sober when filming for season 12 of the show began in 2019. Elsewhere in the complaint, McSweeney alleges that Cohen “engages in cocaine use with Housewives and other 'Bravolebrities' that he employs,” and has a “proclivity for cocaine usage with his employees.” A representative for Cohen told Entertainment Weekly the claims against him are “completely false.”
McSweeney’s lawsuit comes after former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Brandi Glanville alleged Cohen sexually harassed her. A letter Glanville’s attorneys sent to NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Shed Media claims that Cohen sent Glanville a video in 2022 where the Real Housewives EP appeared “inebriated.” Cohen allegedly “boasted of his intention to sleep with another Bravo star that night while thinking of her and invited her to watch via Facetime,” said lawyers Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos.
“This was an extraordinary abuse of power that left Ms. Glanville feeling trapped and disgusted,” the letter adds. “It is inconceivable that Mr. Cohen remains in his post in spite of this behavior and harkens back to the bad old days of Matt Lauer and NBC News when profits were prioritized over people.”
